‘Structural transformation needed for growth’

The National Coordinator, West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), Prof. Damian Okey Chikwendu, has said the country cannot have a sustained economic growth without a structural transformation of the agricultural sector.

This, he explained, would involve broadening production base from small to medium scale level. He said it would also require upgrading processes that enhance farm produce and raising agric productivity.

According to him, in the past, there has been little success recorded at improving agriculture because of the subsistence farming practice prevalent in the country.

“If we are going to achieve high economic growth, it will be powered by a structural transformation of the farming sector, with incentives and measures that encourage farmers to take agriculture as a business. Many aspects have to come together, including promoting agro businesses to move from producing low value commodities to high value industrial products,” he said.

Chikendu argued that agriculture, in conjunction with other sectors of the economy, will promote sustainable growth and structural transformation for increasing employment. He said it is imperative that farmers’ perspectives are changed to the direction of making them see farming as a business. He said this will involve training them as business people, adding that this will not only contribute to food and income security, but also increase and improve their revenue base. This, he disclosed, is the new direction which WAAPP is championing- to train farmers to see agriculture as a sustainable business and to make the shift from subsistence farming to farming for profit.

He lamented that although it is becoming tighter for the government to fund infrastructure, he said the government can still address the issue in two folds of prudent capital projects spending and public–private partnerships (PPP). The PPP model has been proven in other climes to be effective in financing agricultural infrastructures such as irrigation schemes or storage facilities, or providing services that will benefit smallholder farmers.

He said: “If we are to bring life into the economy, a lot of funding has to be deployed to fast-track new agricultural infrastructure. We need infrastructure to stimulate and transform a lot of promising agricultural ideas and businesses into profitable commercial investments. Where the necessary agricultural systems and facilities are lacking, you see a situation where it will take a long time for new agric businesses to take off not to talk about becoming profitable.‘’